Asher Shostak
Asher Shostak is a new character introduced in Season 12 as Clare's former boss at her internship at a Toronto newspaper. While Clare tried to impress him at her internship, he proceeded to sexually harass her. He is portrayed by Paul Popowich. Character History Season 12 In''' Come As You Are (2), Ms. Oh mentions that Clare has her co-op with journalist Asher Shostak that day.At the Co-op, Asher hands Clare a pile of work and tells her that many high school students want this job, and she's lucky to have it. She tells him that her favorite part of journalism is clarity. He tells her to get to work. At 7:15, Clare finishes her work and hands it into Asher. He invites her to come to a protest with the team, telling her that it would be a great experience for her being a newbie. She calls Eli and tells him she can't come. In 'Closer to Free (1), '''Clare's internship boss Asher takes a quick look at a geography assignment for school and gives her pointers on how to make it better because quote, “There’s no reason every piece of work shouldn’t be your best.” Asher asks Clare to show him how to get things trending on twitter. With her twitter feed open Asher spots several hashtags that catch his eye: #StuffClareSays and #AsherSays, both started by Connor tweeting things Clare had said to him and Adam. She’s flustered and immediately slams her computer shut. Clare confronts Connor and he tells her it was a joke. She tells him she’s afraid it could cause her to lose her internship, but he continues and #StuffClareSays becomes a trending topic at the school, and when Asher sees that Clare obsessing over it is getting in the way of her work, he sends her home. In 'Closer to Free (2), 'Clare returns to work and Asher apologizes for being so harsh to her and inappropriately adds that he loves working with her too. In 'Waterfalls (1), 'Clare is eager to take full advantage of her internship and does so by e-mailing some of her pitch ideas to Asher, He calls her and asks her to meet him for lunch, and she assumes she's going to get fired because he thought her ideas were stupid. However, he gives her an oppurtunity to pitch an idea to him, and she chooses the Degrassi musical. Asher agrees and tells Clare that they're going to write her article. Clare's excitied until Asher meets Eli, and does the interview by himself while sending Clare to go fetch coffee. Clare chases Asher down and tells him that she wants to write the article, and despite not thinking shes ready, he lets her. After noticing an error in the article after sending it to Asher, she panics and heads to the newspaper to find him. Asher tells her shes working on re-writing her article because it had alot of work needed to be done on it, and Clare breaks down feeling as though she has failed him. He calms Clare down and tells her that she can stay and help him edit the article. Afterword, Clare is relieved, but out of nowhere Asher kisses her, and she runs out of his office horrified. In 'Waterfalls (2), 'Eli and Clare open the first newspaper and she realizes that her article isn't in the paper at all. She says she'll talk to Asher later and at school she reveals Asher's actions to Alli. Alli tells her she should tell Ms. Oh but Clare says that she will get an explanation from Asher. At the office, after Clare drops off a paper to Asher, she begins walking out but shuts the door and asks why her article wasn't published. He first apologizes about the other night saying that he is going through a rough divorce and she talks about her parents' divorce saying that they are all happier now. The two make up and he shows her that the finished article will be published later. His boss walks in saying that they have to go to a conference with the mayor and he offers Clare to join him. She hesitates but finally agrees and after the conference, she is full of excitement. She compliments his techniques and says she just wants to skip right to what he does now. He says that she reminds him alot of himself when he was younger and begins to carress his face. She tries to pull away but he locks the door and she struggles to get out. Before pulling out, he grabs her and threatens that if she wants to keep her job, she'll keep quiet before driving away. At school, she tells Alli what happened and says she'll get even with Asher. She speaks with Asher's boss, telling her everything and his boss says that her obsession with him has gone too far. She says that she knows all about the tweets and that they must let her go, and that someone will escort her to clear out her desk. Before leaving, she confronts Asher in front of everyone at the office, saying that he ruined everything and that woman should stay away from him. When a guard tries to pull her away she pulls away and leaves. In 'Sabotage (1) Clare finally gets in contact with Jennifer, one of Asher's former interns,and Clare manages to schedule a meeting with Jennifer. Clare is meeting with her at The Dot and when Jennifer realizes that Clare is the intern that got fired, she bolts. Jennifer was the last intern Clare had on her list and Alli tries again to convince her to speak to Ms. Oh, but she still wants to find a way on her own to prove Asher is guilty. In Sabotage (2), 'Eli goes to The Interpreter and finds Asher. He asks Clare's former mentor to reinstate her internship and Asher realizes that he doesn't know what really happened and tells Eli that Clare was obsessed with him, leaving Eli believing Asher's lie and still not knowing what actually happened. Eli shows up to the party looking miserable and Fiona tells him to buck up and get ready for the surprise. Clare is shocked to find the 'spa' Alli planned on taking her to is actually her surprise party. Clare's excitement over the party vanishes quickly when Eli tells her that he spoke to Asher and learned why Clare was really fired. Clare and Eli don't have much time to talk though, since Dallas and the rest of the Ice Hounds show up with beer for Clare leaving Eli confused. Eli agrees to talk to Clare and she finally tells him the truth about Asher. She blames herself, but Eli reassures her that what happened at The Interpreter was Asher's fault, not Clare's. In 'Scream (2), Clare wants get revenge on Asher with the help of Katie. Clare concocts a plan to pose nude in photos, which she and Katie will then plant on his office computer. As they make their way to the office, however, Clare ironically remembers advice that Asher himself gave, realizing that even if Asher goes to jail for having her underage pictures, she will still be remembered as having taken them to begin with, thus dashing any further chances of being a journalist. As she and Katie leave, they see Jennifer, who tells them to leave. Clare tearfully admits the truth to her before doing so; she stops them shortly thereafter and reveals that she too was harassed by Asher as an intern, and offers to go to the police alongside Clare and Katie, thus exposing him Trivia *He has sexually harassed Clare in two different instances. Once in Waterfalls (1), and again in Waterfalls (2). *He and Coach Carson both share the same line, both saying "Our little secret." Asher said it to Clare in Waterfalls (1) while Coach Carson said it to K.C in Heart Like Mine (1). K.C. and Clare dated each other at a point. *He is known to have harrassed two women: Clare Edwards and Jennifer, despite Jennifer being reluctant to admit it to Clare in Sabotage (1) and Scream (2). *He lied to Eli about Clare 'obssession' with him. *He is the second authority figure to harass a student. The first was Mr. Colby. Relationships *Unnamed Wife **Start Up: Unknown Category:Degrassi Category:Minor Character Category:Season 12 Category:Male Characters Category:Degrassi Characters Category:Degrassi Adults Category:Recurring Characters Category:Antagonists